Chandigarh, January 27: Films and books on Sikh religion may soon have to pass the test of the SGPC, which is planning to set up a ‘censor board’ for “moral policing” of the scripts.
The move comes against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s movie ‘MSG’ and many Bollywood movies in which actors have donned the turban like Ajay Devgn starrer ‘Son of Sardar’ and Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Singh is King’.
“We will soon set up Sikh Censor Board comprising historians and intelligentsia so that someone keen to make any film or write a book concerning Sikh religion first gets the script cleared to avoid consequences later,” Amritsar-based SGPC head Avtar Singh Makkar told this agency.
Terming it as “moral policing” on part of SGPC, Makkar said the board members will clear the script of films or books based on Sikh religion and community members.
“Our idea is that Sikh religion is projected and exhibited in public domain in consonance with the spirit of code of conduct of the community,” he said.
Though Makkar knows that there is no legal sanctity of such a board as already a body with the name of Censor Borad for giving film certification is in the place in the country, he is confident that such a body will help prevent controversies.
The past has been witness to controversies by certain films prior to their release like ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’ of Punjab’s “macho man” Sunny Deol. A lot of heat was also generated over ‘Kaum De Heere’ and ‘Sadda Haq’, Punjabi films which were banned for being not in sync with ‘Rehat Maryada’ (code of conduct).
A Hindi TV serial ‘Gurbani Ishq Da Kalma’ was is thick of controversy with Sikh bodies objecting it. SGPC had intervened and the name was changed to ‘Bani Ishq Da Kalma’ before being telecast on a private channel.
The proposed board wants to ensure that the movies made in the future are in accordance with the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’ (code of conduct), said Makkar. The board will have members including Sikh intellectuals and experts from various fields, including Sikh historians, film experts and lawyers, he said.
Punjabi movie ‘Chaar Sahibzade’, an animated film depicting life of Sikh Gurus, has been a major success in the past. “The entire film was made under the direct supervision of SGPC…so there was no controversy…the results are before you,” Makkar said. However, after its success there was a rush to make more Punjabi animation movies on such subjects.
Makkar is apprehensive that the producers or directors of such movies can go wrong and hence there is need to be properly guided on facts concerning Sikh religion. The SGPC head said that Union minister Arun Jaitley had given him an assurance that at least two members from the Sikh community will be part of the Censor Board.
“I have met Jaitley and he had assured to put two members from the Sikh community in the Censor Board,” he said. The SGPC has been asked to constitute a censor board so that any film or book related to Sikh history and culture is examined first to avoid any controversies in the future, Akal Takht, top temporal seat of Sikhs, Head Priest Gurbachan Singh said.
A few year ago there was a controversy over the publication of books ‘Gian Sarovar’ and ‘Balu De Wal’. Certain Punjabi film producers, including J S Cheema, are of the opinion that the SGPC should form a panel which can be contacted by the Censor Board, an authorized body under Union ministry of information and broadcasting.
When ever there is any movie depicting Sikh culture or Sikhs as such, the panelists can give their views to the board and the experts there, he said. If the script of a film or book has no approval from the proposed Sikh censor board, the producers and directors involved with the project will be responsible for the consequences, Makkar said.